Storm loses again at home; Lauren Jackson injured

In a nearly empty Storm locker room, players began to reflect.

Three All-Stars and a noted home-court advantage and Seattle still is unable to eke out wins as it did in the past. Wednesday's 66-63 loss to Detroit was particularly frustrating because the Storm spent a big chunk of practice on Monday watching tape of their mistake-filled loss to Chicago on Sunday — only to repeat the errors.

You'd think Seattle would burst from the locker room to pound the Shock. Instead, the Storm was lifeless until the third quarter.

With two starters in foul trouble and Lauren Jackson having left the building after suffering a strained left calf in the third quarter, Seattle couldn't hold on to a 61-57 lead with 3:42 remaining. Shock guard Deanna Nolan nailed a three-pointer and veteran Katie Smith scored the final six points to secure the win before a crowd of 6,821.

The Storm lost back-to-back games at KeyArena for the first time since July 2007, when it lost to San Antonio and Sacramento. Seattle's 15-game regular-season home win streak ended Sunday against Chicago.

For the second consecutive game, Seattle, ranked fourth in the league in defense, allowed its opponent to shoot above 50 percent in the second half. Chicago shot 63.6 percent, and the Shock shot 54.5.

"It's time to stop talking about the things we need to get done and go out there and do it," said Storm All-Star Swin Cash, who was traded from Detroit in 2008. "We can't be waking up in the second half or be getting smacked by a team and then feeling like you've got to smack them back. This league is too good.

"We were scouted well and we didn't step up to that challenge. That's the difficult part for me."

The Shock gave Seattle a chance to win when rookie Shavonte Zellous turned the ball over with 19.6 seconds left. But Sue Bird and guard Tanisha Wright missed shots for Seattle.

At times, the Storm attempted rushed shots with the shot clock winding down. It didn't help, either, that Wright and Cash fouled out.

"We did have foul trouble, which always affects the game, but those who did come in, I thought they did a great job," said Bird, who finished with 10 points, six assists and a season-high five steals. "They [the Shock] made plays at the end of the game to take the lead, but even beyond that, our first half was terrible. That's where we lost the game, in my opinion."

Needing defensive stops, the Storm (8-6) didn't start clicking on that end until shortly before halftime. Seattle trailed 39-30 at the break but went on a 14-4 run to start the second half and led 44-43 after two free throws by Camille Little.

Detroit (4-7) responded with a three-pointer by Smith, but led by only two, 50-48, at the end of the third quarter. Smith made sure it was enough, finishing with a game-high 19 points and four assists.

"I don't think we're as good as we can be, yet," Storm coach Brian Agler said. "We're going through an evolution here and at some point, I think we'll find ourselves."

Note

• Jackson left with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter. She was unavailable afterward, but Agler said she'll have an MRI today. Jackson finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com

Wednesday's box

DETROIT		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Smith	36:38	6-11	5-5	1-3	4	1	19
M-Franklin	22:42	4-6	0-0	1-2	2	5	8
Ford	32:44	3-6	2-8	0-8	1	2	8
DeForge	17:50	3-4	0-0	0-1	1	1	6
Nolan	33:01	4-11	0-0	0-4	7	1	11
Braxton	18:31	2-3	0-2	2-4	1	2	4
Hornbuckle	10:45	1-2	0-0	0-0	1	2	2
Zellous	21:46	2-4	4-4	2-5	1	3	8
Sanni	6:04	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Totals		25-47	11-19	6-28	18	17	66

Percentages: FG .532, FT .579. Three-point goals: 5-8, .625 (Nolan 3-4, Smith 2-4). Team rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 23 (18 pts). Blocked shots: 3 (Nolan 2, Zellous). Turnovers: 23 (Braxton 5, Nolan 5, Ford 3, DeForge 2, Hornbuckle 2, McWilliams-Franklin 2, Smith 2, Zellous 2). Steals: 6 (Nolan 4, Sanni, Smith). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Cash	27:17	3-8	2-3	1-3	1	6	8
Jackson	23:56	4-12	2-2	3-4	0	2	11
Little	32:40	4-11	4-8	2-6	2	2	12
Bird	36:08	5-11	0-0	2-3	6	0	10
Wright	25:26	4-5	2-2	0-1	3	6	10
Burse	19:31	1-3	0-0	0-1	0	5	2
Gearlds	15:49	4-6	0-0	1-2	1	0	10
Johnson	14:47	0-4	0-0	0-1	1	1	0
Robinson	3:10	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Batkovic	1:16	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals		25-60	10-15	9-22	14	23	63

Percentages: FG .417, FT .667. Three-point goals: 3-13, .231 (Gearlds 2-2, Jackson 1-4, Cash 0-1, Bird 0-3, Johnson 0-3). Team rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: 18 (15 pts). Blocked shots: 2 (Cash, Wright). Turnovers: 17 (Cash 4, Bird 3, Little 3, Batkovic 2, Burse 2, Jackson 2, Gearlds). Steals: 10 (Bird 5, Jackson 2, Burse, Gearlds, Little). Technical fouls: Wright, 5:51 second.

Detroit	18	21	11	16 — 66
Seattle	14	16	18	15 — 63

Attendance: 6,821 (17,098). Time: 2:02. Officials: Clarke Stevens, Penny Davis, Shelley Nakasone.